Hsk ibt or paper based?

[Uligas]

Hello everybody

I'm applying to peking university next spring so I'm about to take the hsk 6 test.the problem is Im not sure whether the Internet based one would be accepted, and their website does not provide further infos.

I wrote to the school and they kinda implied that the paper based one is more welcomed but I want to know if I can take the ibt , does anybody know any better?

[ZhangKaiRong]

The two HSK exams are equivalent, the only difference is the form of the exam (PC vs paper), and that in the writing part you type in the computer based one and use pen in the paper based one. Not much of a difference, to be honest, as in most cases the reading part is the bottleneck between a pass and a fail.

I heard some rumours about BeiDa master programs recently: it is said that regardless of your HSK level, they let you write an entry test and based on that test they assess whether your Chinese is good enough to directly start attending courses of your program or do a preparatory year studying Chinese.

[Uligas]

I'm applying for the undergraduate program, do you know anything about it? Also, when will the next year application infos likely come out on their website?

[Uligas]

您好！感谢您的来信！建议您提交笔试的hsk成绩，2017年的申请要求还没有出，届时有可能会做更改，对成绩的要求也可能相应提升

This is what they said

[ZhangKaiRong]

I don't really know about the undergrad program and their approach they follow for undergrad candidates.

 

I know that BeiDa is the almighty god-tier university in China, but the way they want to treat the computer-based test is kind of ridiculous. HanBan introduced the CBT in order to emphasize new technologies (as well as to cut costs) in language learning, and because they realized that requirement of Chinese employers towards foreigners changed a lot since 1990. Their ultimate aim was to eliminate the paper-based HSK soon. BeiDa shoots its on legs this way, even though I understand why they would prefer paper-based tests (exam requirements in their graduate programs requires exams to be written in essay form, by hand).

 

Anyway, is it obvious from your exam result notification that which form you had taken? I did my HSK4 on paper and HSK5 on computer, but the result documents were fairly identical in my eyes...

[Uligas]

Guess I'll have to wait for the new rules to be renewed.

I am taking the hsk 6 which, from what I understood, does not include a speaking part.Do I have to take the oral test too? I think it's called hskk and it should be a completeluly separate test

[ZhangKaiRong]

None of the HSKs have an oral part, for which they had been criticized heavily for years. As a result, HanBan introduced the HSKK exam, which - as you said - is a separate exam. It has only three levels (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced). HSKK Advanced is recommended for HSK5 and HSK6 test takers.

The exam is quite odd - even though it's an oral test, you're essentially speaking to a computer, repeating short/semi-long paragraphs, reading aloud parts of differents texts, and answering questions based on a previously heard story. The whole exam is badly designed and just plain awful. It is pre-requisite for the Confucius Scholarship, but as far as I know, the Chinese Government Scholarship and the universities haven't introduced it yet. If they just require the HSK Level 6, then it's OK, just focus on that exam. If they require the HSKK Advanced, then do this as well - you'd easily pass even with a low-tier HSK6 or a mid-tier HSK5 level knowledge, as the bar is quite low on the vocab (3000 words in HSKK advanced vs 5000 in HSK6). So no big deal, apart from the torture the actual exam is.

[Uligas]

Thank you very much for your help.

I'll just take the test and cross my finger that beida won't introduce any new requirements for undergraduates